There has been a continuing problem in attempting to report and record information in environments where there is a high intensity noise level, as well as in environments where it is desirable that no additional noise be produced by the reporting and recording process such as in the field of court reporting, classroom instruction, and in x-ray viewing rooms of radiology departments.
Examples of the prior art may be seen in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: AAGAARD, 1,474,100; Gerlach, 1,776,584; Gilman et al, 2,485,278; Junghans, 2,806,906; Orso, 2,857,013; Beguin, 3,114,802 and 3,796,842.
An advantage of the applicant's device over the prior art is in the fact that the applicant's device does not cover the user's nose, rather it covers only the user's mouth area. Thus, the applicant's device in no way interferes with the device user's breathing or with the positioning of glasses the user may be wearing.
Further, use of the "mask" type reporting device requires provision there within for breathing by the user since the user's nose is covered by the mask while the device is in use.
Further, in the prior art devices there has been a problem of dealing with the moisture accumulation within the sound chamber of the device. The moisture accumulation is concomitant with device usage because of the presence of moisture in the user's breath. Heretofore, there has been no satisfactory arrangement for absorbing the moisture within the reporting device.
A further problem in the device of the prior art has been the signal distortion generated by the mechanical-electrical transducer of the device. Specfically, the heretofore devices have positioned the transducer or microphone of the device in other than an optimum position for signal fidelity achievement.
A further problem with prior art devices has been the pressure build-up within the device when the user speaks while having the device pressed against his or her mouth. The pressure build-up tends to mitigate the effectiveness of the transducer operation and promotes distortion and a low signal to noise ratio from the transducer.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a reporting device capable of providing a high signal to noise ratio while operating in an environment having a high intensity noise level.
Further, it is an object of the invention to provide a reporting device capable of providing a signal having good fidelity when used in environments requiring that sound produced by the reporting and recording process be kept to a minimum.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a reporting device having a design such that the use of such device in no way interferes with glasses worn by the user.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device which does not cover the nose when in use.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device which in no way interferes with the user's breathing while in use.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device which is free of problems caused by breath moisture accumulation within the device.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a reporting device which has optimum positioning of a mechanical-electrical transducer within the device such as to produce a low distortion electrical signal in response to a human voice.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a reporting device structurally arranged such as to minimize distortion in the device transducer output signal caused by employment of the device in proximity to the mouth of the user.
The invention has as a further object the provision of a reporting device which mitigates the harmful phenomena produced by pressure build-up in the sound channel of the device when the user speaks while having the device pressed against his or her mouth.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device having means to relieve pressure build-up in the device's sound channel when a user speaks while having it pressed against his or her mouth area.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device readily usable in court rooms without adverse effect on the proceedings.
A further object of the invention is provision of a device readily usable by blind people in situations where a record of audible sounds is desirable but where normal type recording would be prohibited.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device for classroom dictation recordation by both blind and seeing students.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reporting device readily usable by radiologists in dictating reports in the x-ray scanning rooms.
Further objects, advantages and details of the reporting device will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention.